Culture Shock Of Studying Abroad Cultural Studies Essay

last Shock Of Studying Abroad Cultural Studies EssayIn the globalising world, more and more large number go to abroad for work and study. purification grogginess has been widely present in inter heathenish communication. Where at that place is ethnic communication, thither is refinement go against. It croup be illustrated by a simple case.A Chinese girl, who is a college student, god long-term acculturation when she came here at first. One day, she went to the bank to ask for the statement. When she arrived there, the officer told her that the statement must be posted, and she could no. get it right a guidance. She explained that it was urgently needed for visa, but the officer still insisted on his decision, which made her upset and frustrated. As opposed to it, in chinaware, mavin can get a bank statement at any sequence.the great unwashed will experience the impact of ethnic differences in varying degrees from an ethnic region to a completely polar one, oddly to go to work, study and live abroad. The set of symbols, customs, behaviour patterns, amicable transaction will be replaced by an otherwise set they atomic number 18 not familiar, which may bring about mental anxiety, emotional instability, and counterbalance embossment. In severe cases, it can consequent in a variety of psychological and physical diseases, worse, even mental problems or suicide. This is assimilation shock exactly.Culture shock has been an important source of interpersonal stress and conflict for those who atomic number 18 in a multicultural society. Generally speaking, tillage shock is a phenomenon of cultural loss and mental imbalance, and it also can be seen as a process of the evolution of mental state in st score cultural settings. People experience varying degrees of culture shock. There ar numerous factors affecting culture shock and the exclusive reactions, including previous experience with other cultures and cross-cultural adaptation, the degre e of difference in ones deliver and the horde culture, the degree of preparation, social support networks, and individual psychological characteristics. (Furnham Bochner, 1986)Nowadays, international students be playing an increasingly significant single-valued function in contrasting countries, curiously in western countries. They spend much money and time for high bringing up. After finishing the study, they usually go back home or stay to get a intimately job. Only if they overcome cultural shock can they continue learning and put on the opportunity to enthral out their dream. Otherwise, it will be a giant waste of time and money.Doubtlessly, these students have become vital for the study of culture shock. This essay is to send for the definition, characteristics, phases, and causes of culture shock, and explore how it can affect foreign students through a collection of relevant examples.Literature ReviewIn recent years, there is a growing literature in the argona of culture shock, and many contributions to the mental wellness issues aroused by culture shock go about by foreign students (Thomas Althen, 1989). A number of scholars have discussed the definition of culture shock. Oberg (1960) popularised it to refer to the anxiety that results from losing all of our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse. Adler (1975) suggested that culture shock is primarily a set of emotional reactions to the loss of perceptual reinforcements from ones deliver culture, to the new cultural stimuli which have little or no meaning, and to the mistake of new and diverse experience. Barna (1976) extended the concept to include physiological aspects. Bennett (1977) viewed it as a subcategory of transition experiences. Regarding the symptoms of culture shock, although individual reactions differ from case to case, divers(a) scholars (e.g., Oberg, 1960 Adler, 1975) suggested some common symptoms, such as feelings of impotence and withdrawal alarm of uni verse cheated or injured excessive concern on health being homesick and a state of nervous irritability.Moreover, Taft (1977) summarised a range of definitions and argued that culture shock is a feeling of impotence from the inability to oversee with the environment, because of being unfamiliar with cognitive aspects and role-playing skills. He identified six different aspects of culture shock1. Tension due to the ongoing necessary psychological adjustment.2. A sense of loss of friends, status, occupation and property.3. Being not real by and/or accepting members of the new culture.4. Confusion in role, role expectations, value, feelings and self-identity.5. Surprise, anxiety, even disgust and anger after perceiving cultural differences.6. Feeling of weakness due to not being able to deal with the new circumstance.In terms of mental health issues, the widespread use of the two major concerns, namely, depression (e.g., David, 1971 Hojat, 1982) and anxiety (e.g., Lin Masuda, Taz uma, 1982) has been documented. Some studies have paid attention to helplessness (Arredondo-Dowd, 1981), social withdrawal, loneliness, and homesickness (Church, 1982 Cort King, 1979).Causes of Culture ShockWhen one enters an unfamiliar environment, why will he encounter culture shock? There ar heterogeneous explanations in the psychological studies. A traditional one is to link it to heartache of the loss of friends or relatives, ascribing culture shock to the loss of certain things. People feel grieved due to the loss of close friends and family, while those in a different cultural context may be subjected to culture shock for losing a familiar frame of reference in an intercultural encounter, such as status, values, friends, and customs. (Bennett, 1977) A number of new theories have been proposed which elaborate it from different aspects. opposite ValuesValue is a kind of social consciousness, and it can fall upon what kind of behavior, survival patterns and interaction guid elines will be adopted by individuals, groups or societies. There is neither any kind of values master than others, nor that inferior. Any of them is unique. For example, comparing the Chinese and American cultures, it clearly can be seen that the American value individualism while the Chinese emphasise collectivism. American people emphasise individual rights, whereas Chinese people value their obligations to society. In intercultural communication, one from a different culture must respect values of the force culture to ensure the smoothness of communications. If people act as the opposite, culture shock will occur inevitably. Take some Moslem students for example. When living in America, there are many students from Muslim countries, specially females, who usually continue to wear traditional clothing therefore they are actively resisting participating in the American popular culture. This has been in the way of acculturation, which may isolate them from the environment and b ring about anxiety or frustration.EthnocentrismPeople tend to criticise the practices of another culture from the perspective of their own cultural values and beliefs. Ethnocentrism, constituted by ethno and centrism, refers to a cultural twist that leads people to judge another cultures habits and practices as right or wrong, good or bad (Samover Porter, 2000). This tendency will result in dresser of ones own cultures superiority, and contempt of outsiders, thereby influencing the adaption process. To illustrate, several cases will be presented. Chinese regard western food such as sandwich and burger as junk food. Americans are shocked that Chinese eat around all kinds of animals. Chinese think Hindus bathing in the river Ganges is unsanitary. Moslem counties are criticised for supposedly subordinating women. Western countries think Chinese forced-feeding education has no benefit for students.Ethnocentrism sometimes can produce positive social effects, including a very strong social status, which may enhance individual self-esteem, sense of loyalty and group survival consciousness, but also push down internal contradictions. However, ethnocentric attitudes will cause negative social effects, which prevents people from learning new knowledge from other cultures and broaden new vision. In addition, to safeguard the status of national superiority, competition, fear, anger and hatred may increase, which leads to a variety of destructive conflicts. Ethnocentrism and culture is symbiotic, and each of us grows up in a certain culture, thus it is impossible to completely get give up of ethnocentrism. When students enter an unfamiliar cultural context, it is easy to judge the print culture as good or bad, right or wrong from the stall of their own cultural values. With the bias judgment, one cannot break the barriers to achieve intercultural intellect therefore, culture shock occurs, which causes psychological and physiological stress and tension in communi cation contact.Preconceptions and StereotypesThe presence of preconceptions and assorts is a stumbling block to cultural contact. For instance, U.S. students try to wait distance to a noisy group from Middle East since the stereotype that the Arabs are inflammable. If one has regarded Japanese as inscrutable before his or her Japanese guests coming, he or she will probably see their behaviors (e.g., the unceasing smile) as much (Barna, 1994).Stereotypes help to reduce the threat of the unknown by making the world predictable (Becker, 1962). Stereotypes lead to overgeneralisation, and affect intercultural communication directly, because the predictions to the behaviours of the other party are based on their fixed views rather than whether they are accurate or fit the circumstances. Stereotypes are psychologically necessary to wrench our helplessness so as to interact with people in different situations.Stereotypes make people pay attention to what fit their initial impressions, a nd sheer the left. It prevents people from communicating with those from the distinct cultural backgrounds. As a psychological reason for culture shock, stereotypes are detrimental to the process of communication and have been an obstacle to intercultural interactions.Language DifferencesLanguage difference is a stumbling block in the adaption process. Vocabulary, syntax, idioms, slang, dialects, and so on all cause difficulty, but the person seek with a different language is at least aware of being in trouble. (Barna, 1994) A big language problem is that users cling to one meaning of a word in the objective language, without considering the specific context. various(a) meanings are so difficulty that they are often waved aside. Conceit and complacency will stop a search for understanding. Yes and no are authorised examples. How to answer the question, Dont you know him? When a foreign student first hears it, he may answer yes, which means he does not know him. However, if he wa nts to express the meaning that he does know him, he has to answer no. There are some other problems, including the different styles of using target language. These differences may lead to wrong interpretations of tone and intent. Language skills are united with adaptation effectiveness (DeVerthelyi, 1995). Foreign students in the USA who cannot speak side of meat well may be isolated socially, which will affect their pedantic achievement. For instance, one can order a cup of tea at a caf however, he or she may not discuss schoolman issues such as linguistics very well. Despite that he or she holds the idea, it cannot be presented by language. As mentioned above, language issue will result in academic and intercultural failures and further lead to high stress and depression which are the exact symptoms of culture shock.Avoiding Unfamiliar People and ThingsWhen students come to a new environment, they usually would like to assume similarities instead of differences between the ho st culture and their own culture, which can bring themselves a sense of occasion and familiarity. Some other students prefer to stay with those from the same country and character experiences within the small circle. They avoid and resist people and things they are not familiar. Due to the avoidance, they cannot understand the new cultural identity, and even mistake their cultural norms as universal ones that everyone can accept. Once they find acts strange (different from them) they expect, confusion, disappointment, and even rejection will be produced. This phenomenon is widely present in communities of Chinese students. These students are together for everyday, and they cook, eat, go shopping, study, travel and chat with each other moreover, they appoint joy and sorrow, and intentionally keep away from communicating with people from target culture. Generally, they live in the small world created by themselves, and set up an obstruction in intercultural contact. With time going on, they become less stalwart to break up the barrier and reach an impasse of cultural contact. take aim of KnowledgeHow should I greet when I first meet them, agitate hands or bowing? What should we talk about for initial meetings? Should I be more enthusiastic or control my facial expressions when talking with them? There is a long list of cultural norms needed to be learned by overseas students before or during a sojourn. Ones direct of cultural knowledge may contribute to the acculturation (Begley, 2000). For example, overseas students analyze in Britain should be aware of the different educational system and die ways to succeed in learning. Google claimed to withdraw the investment in China for it did not recognise the complicated realities of the country and finally failed in China. From these examples, we can understand that being aware of little general and specific cultural knowledge can cause communicative problems that may lead to culture shock.